Menorca's secret marvels

Written for Walk magazine:
http://www.walkmag.co.uk/features/menorca%E2%80%99s-secret-marvels/

Extracts:

As the path turns inland through oak and olive groves the scenery changes radically. The island is extremely green. From the air the main impression is of impenetrable pine forests, yet on the ground – as these groves attest – there is also plenty of oak, olive and fig. The air cools and path narrows as we enter the trees’ shade, and the noise of the sea gradually fades to be replaced by birdsong. It feels hushed here, like a sanctuary. Ancient and gnarled, the olive trees bend upwards like old men, bearing the weight of their still-forming black olives. Oak trees, completely unrecognisable from the English Quercus, add to the tranquil green shelter. We’re not the only ones appreciating the peace: a Hermann’s tortoise is basking in the dappled sunshine to the edge of our path. Not so slow when it feels threatened, the small yellow and black-shelled reptile scurries for cover as we approach...

Beyond fields of long grass stirred by the breeze, we pass through a small wooden gate. I lift back the overhanging branches of an oak tree to see an incredible T-shaped stone construction before me, like a gigantic altar, surrounded by wildflowers and olive trees. It’s reminiscent of Stonehenge, and I’m struck dumb by its strange, mystical beauty and filled with wonder and awe. It’s preternaturally quiet, yet far from eerie, and feels entirely separate from normal life. The boulders which make up the stone table are immense – too big to lift, particularly in prehistoric Menorca when there were few sources of power to harness....




read more: http://www.walkmag.co.uk/features/menorca%E2%80%99s-secret-marvels/